RoHS Compliance
Industrial Valves & Fittings, Inc. (IVF) supports the European Union's RoHS Directive, which restricts the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. The substances defined and outlined in this legislation are:
- Lead (with the exception on Lead in high melting point solders)
- Mercury
- Cadmium
- Hexavalent Chromium's (Cr6)
- Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBE)
- Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE)
As your trusted supplier, IVF made a commitment to meet these requirements back in July of 2004.
An analysis of our sales within the electrical and electronic equipment manufacturing industries revealed that our lines of fasteners would be the first impacted by this legislature. As such our initial concern was centered on the Cadmium and Hexavalent Chromium's found in the finishes commonly applied to screws, nuts, washers, etc.
To meet our goals we instituted the following steps:
- All newly manufactured steel materials plated w/ Zinc from July 2004 onward have been converted to Zinc plating w/ the accepted Trivalent Chromium's (Cr3)
- All vendors providing pre-manufactured goods w/ Zinc plating must switch to Trivalent Chromium's no later than January 2006 and were instructed to provide supporting documentation of this change
- Cadmium plated products will be purchased and resold only to the U.S. government, or those entities supplying the U.S. government, which continues to demand this finish
Since accomplishing the above goals, IVF has turned our focus on working w/ our hundreds of non-fastener suppliers to identify which parts are affected by this directive. When we identify non-compliant parts, we seek to find substitutes that meet the RoHS guidelines.
It is our desire to assist in the removal of these substances from the environment. Strict compliance regarding all aspects of this legislation will be followed in the procurement, tracking and distribution of products that have the potential of containing any of these banned substances.